One of the major issues in psychology is the nature/nurture one. While it’s not realistic to say that heredity is responsible for 60 percent of our personality development while the environment makes a 40 percent contribution, it’s still interesting and fun to ponder such issues. With that in mind, let’s consider an incident that was recently reported in the news.
Over two decades ago, a newborn baby was stolen from a NYC hospital. Apparently, her birth parents had left their sick baby at the hospital for a few hours so that they could go home for some much needed rest. When they returned, the baby was nowhere to be found, and although police searched for the kidnappers, they never found any real suspects. Baby Carlina’s mother, Joy White, said she always knew her baby was alive, and last week her mother’s intuition proved to be true.
The “baby,” now known as Nejdra Nance, was raised in Bridgeport, Connecticut and now lives in Atlanta, GA. After DNA testing revealed that Nejdra was indeed Carlina, the family was reunited. They’re taking things slowly, but at the moment, the mother describes a recent family dinner together as “magic” and reports that Carlina fits right in with the family. The now adult baby said she always had a feeling that she didn’t belong to the people who were raising her, and when Carlina got older, she searched until she found her biological mother.
From what you know about nature/nurture, react to your opinions/feelings/beliefs about Carlina’s development. It’s interesting to speculate about how she might have been different if she’d been raised with her biological parents. Or do you think environment matters? Is heredity more important? Share what you think.